Roger Federer was close to perfection on the court, says Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff has hailed Roger Federer as the perfect player when on the court and admitted that she could never emulate the Swiss maestro in that regard.

For the majority of his career, Federer was the perfect role model as a player. He carried himself well on and off the court, which made him one of the most loved athletes in the world.

Federer won the ATP Fans' Favorite award for the first time in 2003 and bagged 18 more after that. He has also been the recipient of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 times and is a two-time winner of the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award. Then there are his on-court achievements that are only matched by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Gauff, who is currently competing at the 2023 French Open, hailed Federer as a model professional. The young American said that she can never follow the 41-year-old in that aspect as she can only ever be 'authentically' herself.

"I guess the responsibilities, I mean, on the court I try to present myself the best I can in that moment. Obviously I'm not going to be perfect. I mean, Roger, he's probably the closest to that when it comes to that. I'm not going to be like that, but I think I try to be authentically myself," she said in a press conference.

Gauff stated she was well aware of her off-court responsibilities too, which is why she regularly speaks out about various issues outside sports.

Last year, after beating Martina Trevisan in the French Open semifinals, she spoke out against gun violence in light of a mass shooting at a school in Texas.

"I'm pretty aware of my presence in sports and the media is something that I don't take for granted," she added. "The reason why I do speak out on all these causes and I do feel a responsibility to do that because I do feel like I'm in a privileged position to be where I am. Maybe that can be taken tomorrow, but I want to make sure everything that I wanted to say was said in that moment."

---

Coco Gauff through to 2023 French Open 3R, to face rising star Mirra Andreeva next

Coco Gauff in action at the 2023 French Open.

Coco Gauff progressed to the third round of the French Open on Thursday, June 1, with a straight-sets win over Austria's Julia Grabher. The American teenager was in sublime form, wrapping up the 6-2, 6-3 win in just 68 minutes.

Gauff, a teenage sensation in tennis, will next face someone of her ilk - 16-year-old rising Russian star Mirra Andreeva.

Andreeva is in the midst of a dream, a breakthrough summer. Having entered Paris as a qualifier, she is yet to drop a set and has sailed through the third round with wins over Alison Riske-Amritraj and Diane Parry.

Andreeva is the youngest player to reach the third round at Roland Garros since 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva made the quarterfinals in 2005. This is also just her third tour-level main draw, following Monastir 2022 and Madrid 2023.

Gauff has given full credit to Andreeva for her progress at the Paris Major and brushed aside any talk of the Russian's age or inexperience.

"I think she knows the game well, and she's proved her position to be here and proved in her results in the past, so I don't think the age thing matters," she said.

Gauff and Andreeva will be in action on Saturday, June 3.